32 to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.
33 Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
Message: Chris's Otherworldly Kingdom
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: Context - In general, Pontius Pilate only intervened in matters with the Jews if that matter affected the Roman Empire and its control of the Holy Land. The Jews claim was Jesus had blasphemed (Matthew 26:65-66); in general something that Pilate would not intervene. But the high priests took it to closer to a Roman intervention by claiming incorrectly Jesus taught people to disobey Caesar claiming to be king of the Jews (Luke 23:1-2). Today's passage does not clearly mention this in verse 33 and Jesus's response in 34, but Jesus doesn't deny it, simply asks Pilate to defend the accusation and to show that the Jews were attempting to manipulate the system since they knew they couldn't be the one's to crucify Jesus (18:31).
Jesus responds in such a way as to somewhat deny the charge that He is to overthrow any present political power, which is actually not what the Jews version of the Messiah wanted in that person. They wanted the Messiah to overthrow Roman authority and help them as a people be independent. So sort of ironic, what they wanted in a Messiah they actually accused Jesus of doing to get to be crucified.
Jesus says in verse 36 that his kingdom which is his rein of people is not of this world. He remarks that people that believe in Him therefore are a people ultimately not of this world. Believers are part of a heavenly kingdom once they believe or an eternal kingdom. And as such his people are not fighting because people understand the kingdom He is ushering is not of this world. I had someone ask me about this recently, to describe the two sets of the people - the visitors or Christians not of this world and those of the world. A stark reminder that there are those that are of this world. James mentions these individuals (James 4:4) and Jesus refers to people that will not hear him (John 8:47). I make mention this as there are many faiths and beliefs that might think that all are going to heaven but in reality Jesus makes mention as does the Bible that not everyone will enter the kingdom.
Other verses:
Daniel 2:44-45 when Daniel came forward to give an interpretation of a dream of Nebuchadnezzar he remarked first that Nebuchadnezzar was one God had established to be king and rule over all (Daniel 2:37-38) but his reign is not eternal and one day a new kingdom, an eternal kingdom will be established, "44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” O God, you are good and your ways our eternal, you grant people to reign in our present lives, but ultimately you have an eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed.
Revelation 11:15, "Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
Summary: Jesus responds to his accusers, spoken from Pilate, that His kingdom is not of this world and He is not here to overthrow a government.
Promise: Jesus' kingdom while not of this world, with it being eternal, still includes this world.
Prayer: Lord, thank you bringing meaning to this text. As I first opened it several days ago, I did not see the value in that I see today. Sometimes Lord it takes me some time to have a text rest in me until I find that Your Spirit speaks to me or wakes me up to it. Today is Sunday and I do thank you for this day as my mind is clear and focused so much more on You, resting from the obligations that make up the other 6 days of the week and so at this time I can take time to seek You and learn from You. Thank you for this text and reminding me of the words that I am not of this world, but You have sealed me forever with You in heaven. This is all for your glory. Lord, impress this upon me more. Give me more of a sense of the need to speak to those that need to hear.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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